This is page numbers 2775 - 2818 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was chairperson.

Topics

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So if a senior owns their home and there's no mortgage on that home, they don't need to add their name to the public housing waitlist. If they have a mortgage, income assistance can support them with some mortgage payments. However, income assistance doesn't generally pay down debts. So, yeah, I just want to make clear if you own your own home free and clear with no mortgage, you do not need to have your name on the public housing waitlist. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral Questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, aging in place depends on family support. And without family support and multigenerational living we would need far more than the original projection of 435 long term care beds. The income assistance policy currently states that rent can be paid by an adult child on behalf of a parent if the dwelling is in a separate living quarter approved by a secondary suite in accordance with the local municipality.

Quite simply, Mr. Speaker, this is not a realty for life in the North. So will the Minister support multigenerational housing by removing policy barriers that stand in the way of seniors using income assistance to age in place with the support of family? Thank you.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's a very specific question. I believe it's -- she's quoting page 76 of the policy manual, if my memory serves me correctly. But the Member makes some good points, and I'm endeavoring to find out why exactly that requirement is there. Perhaps there are other laws or fire code issues related to it. So I want to find that out, and then I can get back to the Member. Because if there are some easy wins, I'm always happy to do those. But I want to note that we are also working on a seniors specific income assistance stream, recognizing that there are differences between individuals who are out of the workforce, perhaps for a short amount of time, and those who have aged out of the workforce, that they have difference needs and there's no need to treat them identically in the same program. So things like this are exactly what we want to look at for those types of programs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for both of the questions I just asked, both of those items are very clearly -- and the Minister is right -- on page 67 to 69 of the policy manual handbook for income assistance. And, for example, with my question with the waitlist, those items are listed in the policy manual. And so when we talk about inconsistencies with policies for seniors, this is where the inconsistencies come from. If people are applying the manual book, and they're applying it differently or on a case-by-case basis, you're ending up with a different rule for one senior than you are for another. So if it's not a rule, take it out of the manual.

My other frustration here today is that a lot of what I'm bringing up here are long-standing income assistance policy issues that have been brought up by multiple Assemblies and by multiple people and even people that have been commissioned by the GNWT to create reports. One of them is the ICM report. And so I think that waiting for the end of a review to see these changes happen, just isn't good enough and we need to see change quickly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question for the Minister is how does the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment intend to work with the Minister of Health and Social Services on the elder strategy so that we can bring these policy inconsistencies together? Thank you.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Integrated service delivery is an approach I talk about often. It is the approach we are moving towards where we design programs for the residents, not for government, and that means not thinking what our department can do but what the person needs and then using a whole-of-government approach. And with that in mind, I can confirm that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment along with the Department of Housing and Health and Social Services are part of a interdepartmental working group. I believe they met earlier this -- well, I guess in May now, and are going to continue to meet and we're focusing on these types of programs, what can we do for seniors to help them age in place, how can we adapt our programs, what gaps are there in programs. So this work is happening at the officials levels, and I am constantly pushing it at the Cabinet level as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I promise to be much quicker. Given that housing Northerners seems to be a little bit of a hot potato between the Department of -- or the Housing Corporation, and Department of ECE, and Health and Social Services, will the Minister commit to working with Health and Social Services and the Housing Corporation to come up with a multigenerational housing model that suits our desire to have residents age in place in their home communities? Thank you.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that's the plan. That's the reality. There are intergenerational housing arrangements right now, and as a government we need to ensure that we're serving the people in those arrangements. Again, there's working groups. I work with my Cabinet colleagues on a higher level, and this is the work we want to do. This is the work we have to do. We have to look at the realities on the ground and then design our policy and programs to meet those realities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for Homelessness. Mr. Speaker, it was the last government that committed to the homelessness strategy, and it was quoted by the previous Minister that we needed a whole-of-government approach to help our homelessness. So what I want to know today is when will we see this homelessness strategy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister responsible for Homelessness.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The homelessness strategy is still going under review. We will have the document tabled in the fall. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you. So I'm hoping it will be early in the fall so we have time to review it before we're sitting. My next question for the Minister is, you know, bringing up my Member's statement, talking about the emergency shelters in the Northwest Territories, the Minister last week confirmed that there is a staff person dedicated to assisting the homeless shelters in Inuvik at this time. But from my discussions that I had, this is -- there's been some confusion. And I just wanted to confirm with the Minister, is there a specific person working with the homeless shelter at this time in Inuvik? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. According to the last update that I did receive, we did have a staff person in Inuvik, but I can follow up with the Member and just too making sure that we still have the support in her riding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm kind of disappointed because I asked this same question last week, and I got the same answer. And the homeless are still homeless, and the shelter is still closed. So I'll go on to my next question.

Is the Minister working with the Health and Social Services Minister in order to help clients that are currently -- or not currently in the emergency shelter but that are in Inuvik now, and is there some contact person that people can contact within their two different departments? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have to follow up with the Member as well because the Housing Corporation did have an agreement with a nonprofit organization in Inuvik. And that agreement is -- we need to find nonprofit organizations to run our programming in Inuvik. So I will follow up with the Member with further details. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will switch my question around. What's going to happen if we have no more non-for-profit organizations to run any of our homeless shelters because they have no support and they don't have enough money to run them. So will the Minister commit to working with our board that we have right now and come up with a solution? Because, like I said, it's still cold. It's snowing. You know, community has rallied together to get sleeping bags and blankets for some of the people because they're sleeping outside, Mr. Speaker. So I would like to know if this Minister is going to take this serious and do something in Inuvik. Thank you.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have my staff follow up with the existing board, but the last update that I did receive is that the board had dissolved. And I'm not too sure what is happening with that board currently. But I will follow up with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Spruce Bough, formerly the Arnica, is currently operating with getting its funding from a number of sources. They're trying to navigate, being passed around through various CMHC funding proposals as well as getting income assistance from their clients as well as COVID emergency funding that has come from Health and Social Services. So I'm just trying to piece together all of the funding sources to make sure that this building and this transitional housing can continue beyond the life of this pandemic.

So my first question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is what funding is currently being provided by her department to the Spruce Bough?

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have a dollar amount but it is true that the funding that was extended to the Spruce Bough during the pandemic continues until September the 30th of this year, at which point we're hoping that the transition to stable and long-term funding from a variety of sources will be solidified. Thank you.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I guess that September 30th date is the date I'm worried about, is that it requires, you know, the staff to know whether they continue to have jobs and the residents to continue to know whether they have homes. Can the Minister speak to what needs to happen to extend funding beyond September 30th? I really would like to walk out of this pandemic with some long-term funding for those people in transitional housing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.